More school districts opt for remote learning over snow days
Dec 17, 2020, 3:15 PM | Updated: 3:16 pm
FILE: Snowy conditions slows the speed limit on I-80 near the mouth of Parleys Canyon in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
(Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
MURRAY, Utah — Two more Utah school districts, Murray and Provo, will move to remote learning options when winter weather would result in snow days otherwise.
Murray gets rid of snow days
Under updated protocols for the Murray School District, schools will use remote learning on potential snow days, with online classwork starting two hours later than in-person school. The guidelines also call for canceling field trips, preschool, half-day kindergarten and school breakfast and lunch.
The superintendent of the Provo City School District, Keith Rittel, tweeted out a warning about possible winter weather on Wednesday, saying poor road conditions could force schools to move to online instruction for Thursday.
“We will do online days in place of snow days,” Rittel wrote.
With all the local weather forecasts predicting lots of snow tomorrow, I am asking teachers and students to prepare for an early morning announcement that could happen: that tomorrow might be an Online Day. We will do online days in place of snow days.
— PCSD Superintendent (@PCSDSupt) December 16, 2020
Materials should be taken home today in case of that possible announcement. I would always want to make such an announcement the day before, but current forecasts are that the snow might not come until mid-morning. Forecasts can be wrong. So I am just issuing an advance warning.
— PCSD Superintendent (@PCSDSupt) December 16, 2020
Provo considers online options
However, when the storm held off, he tweeted another message saying while it wasn’t needed this time, it could still be an option for future snow days.
Grateful any significant snow has held off for now. Please remember to be safe and careful. We will provide updates later today if needed. Also please remember that calling an online day may still be needed in the new calendar year. Best wishes to all!
— PCSD Superintendent (@PCSDSupt) December 17, 2020
Earlier this week, the Canyons School District announced its plans to employ remote learning options rather than cancel school for snow days.
